4G services to be offered across Egypt in 2 weeks

CAIRO – 27 July 2017: Mobile service providers will be ready to offer the fourth generation of mobile technology (4G) services in all governorates within 15 days, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Yasser al-Qadi announced Thursday.

The ministry finished allocating 4G frequencies for the four mobile operators in the country, though some procedures are yet to be concluded to provide services at best quality, Qadi said in a Thursday statement.

There are currently four mobile operators in Egypt, namely Orange, Vodafone Egypt, Etisalat Misr and the state-run fixed line monopoly Telecom Egypt (TE) after it finalized the terms of its mobile license last year.

Although the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has just finished planning frequencies, some operators have launched trial operations for their 4G services in Cairo.

With the upgraded service, mobile line prices are set to increase.
Qadi told local media last month that the increase comes as the Parliament’s Plan and Budget Committee’s approved to impose an additional LE 50 on developing resources over the current LE 20, adding that this will not have a “significant impact on the size of the mobile market.”

TE is expected to launch its 4G service by September as it launched a new tender for an advertising campaign that is expected to be conducted in the third quarter of this year, according to local news.

In October 2016, Qadi said that the sale of 4G licenses had generated $1.1 billion and LE 10 billion ($552 million) in licensing fees. The fees were required to be paid partly in dollars and partly in Egyptian pounds.

The funds are being treated as part of the public treasury since the dollars are considered as a foreign direct investment.